Thursday, September 14, 2017

Three Interesting Things

1. I was looking for kids books about consent for a friend and found this list. We tend to think of consent as to big a topic for kids since we have linked it to sexual activity, but the idea that your body is yours and that means you get to decide who hugs you even if they are an adult, that you should ask before touching classmates, is really part of the bigger idea of teaching kids that they are their own person and not something that can start too soon.

2. I have a complicated relationship with the TV show "Younger" but one of the things it does that you don't even realize is unusual until studies like this remind you, it feature five female characters at different life stages who are not in competition with each other, but have different priorities. There are still so many kinds of characters shows usually only have one of, so you never get to see contrasts. Anyway, here's the latest numbers on women in television.

3. I'm down to one sports podcast these days, but it is SC6, from the team that brought you "His and Hers" aka Jemele Hill and Michael Smith. It was always disingenuous to imagine that sports exist outside of race and politics. It has become more so as players protest, as players find themselves victims of police brutality, to mention a few recent examples. So, the idea that Jemele Hill is apologizing for creating controversy when stating on her personal platform (aka Twitter) that the president is a white supremacist, is a little ridiculous. The president is endorsed by white supremacists, this isn't a reach or stretch or even really an opinion. And Jemele and co-hosts Michael's willingness to discuss things that directly affect the players and coaches they are covering is exactly why they are my sports podcast of choice. And the idea that our president thinks he gets to decide who gets to be on TV is, well, that's why we're in this mess.